High-speed serial links are used to communicate data between devices in a system. Serial interface protocols have been developed at increasingly fast data rates for such high-speed links. Examples of industry-standard protocols for serial interfaces include PCI Express® (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), XAUI (X Attachment Unit Interface), sRIO (serial Rapid IO), and others.
As the operating speed of the high-speed serial links increases to rates which are tens of gigabits per second (Gbps) or more, it has become increasingly challenging to perform equalization sufficient to achieve desired bit error rate (BER) targets. In order to achieve the desired BER targets, both transmitter equalization and receiver equalization may be used.